The incident threatens to further destabilise the already fraught relationship between Beijing and the Vatican.

Bishop Ma reportedly made his announcement on Saturday during a Mass at Shanghai's St Ignatius Cathedral. He was subsequently taken to the Sheshan seminary, around 20 miles from the city.

The bishop's public split with the CPA was seen as a direct challenge to China's control over the country's Catholic church and has again exposed the fault-lines running between the Vatican and Beijing. China severed ties with the Vatican two years after the 1949 Communist Revolution while the Vatican does not recognise the CPA's authority over clergy in China.

Anthony Lam, a researcher at the Holy Spirit Study Centre, told the Associated Press the auxiliary bishop was taken away at the behest of "local officials". "Now they've created a crisis for Beijing and for Shanghai," he said.

Related Articles

According to reports on the Catholic news portal Catholic News Asia, members of Shanghai's Catholic community received a text message from Bishop Ma on Monday evening. In it, he said he felt "mentally and physically exhausted" after his ordination. "I need a break and have made a personal retreat," the message added.

On Tuesday, a man who answered the phone at the Sheshan seminary denied Bishop Ma was there. "He is not here. He is not here. He is not here," the man insisted, before hanging up the phone.

An official from the CPA said he had no information about the case and refused to answer questions about the bishop's whereabouts.